Scotia
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wikify Irish stuff
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2007}}
{{Otheruses|Scotia (disambiguation)}}
'''Scotia''' was originally the [[Latin]] name for [[Ireland]], known to the Romans as [[Hibernia]]. Use of the name shifted in the [[Middle Ages]] to designate [[Scotland]], since many of the Irish ''Scotii'' colonised that area which the Romans referred to as [[Caledonia]].
Scotia was never one fixed place in the Middle Ages. It was a way of saying "Land of the Gaels"; compare ''Angli'', '''Anglia'''; ''Franci'', '''Francia'''; ''Romani'', '''Romania'''; etc. Hence, it once could be used to mean [[Ireland]], as when Isidore of Seville says "Scotia eadem et Hibernia, "Scotland and Ireland are the same country" (Isidore, lib. xii. c. 6)", but the connotation is still ethnic. This is how it is used, for instance, by King [[Robert I of Scotland]] and Domhnall Ua Neill during the [[Scottish Wars of Independence]], when Ireland was called ''Scotia Maior'', and [[Scotland]] ''Scotia Minor''. In this way, the usage of the word ''Scotia'' in the [[Middle Ages]] might be compared with the 21st century usage of the word [[Gaidhealtachd]]. They both mean the same thing descriptively; and like ''Scotia'', ''[[Gàidhealtachd]]'' has obtained an official and fixed meaning while retaining something of a descriptive meaning (i.e. the territory of [[Highland Council]] or [[Scottish Highlands|the Highlands]] in general coincides with no linguistic frontier; and neither do the [[Gaeltacht]]aí of [[Ireland]]).
However, after the 11th century, ''Scotia'' was used mostly for northern Britain, and in this way became fixed. As a translation of [[Alba]], Scotia could mean both the whole Kingdom belonging to the [[King of Scots|''rex Scottorum'']], or just Scotland north of the [[River Forth|Forth]].
In the bureaucratic world of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Pope Leo X]] eventually granted Scotland exclusive right over the word, and this led to Anglo-Scottish takeovers of continental Gaelic monasteries (e.g. the [[Schottenklöster]]).
It is from ''Scotia'' that all [[Romance languages|Romance]] names for Scotland derive, names such as the [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''Scoţia'', the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''Scozia'', the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''Escocia'', the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''Escócia'' and the [[French language|French]] ''Écosse''.
The term is also used in a [[Canada|Canadian]] province named [[Nova Scotia]] (New Scotland); the village of [[Scotia, New York|Scotia]] in [[New York|New York State]], the [[Scotia Sea]] between Antarctica and South America, and in [[Scotiabank]], a trade name for the Bank of Nova Scotia.
The term also is used to describe a piece of wood millwork that is used at the base of columns and in stair construction.
Scotia is also rarely used as a feminine first name.
[[Scotia Gas Networks]] (SGN) is the holding company of Scotland Gas Networks, Southern Gas Networks, SGN Connections, SGN Contracting and SGN Metering, in the UK.
== In Irish sources ==
In [[Geoffrey Keating]]'s ''[[Foras Feasa ar Éirinn]]'' Ireland's "ninth appellation it received likewise from the sons of [[Milesius]], who named it Scotia, from their mother's name, [[Scota]], who was the daughter of [[Pharoah Nectonibus]], king of AEgypt; or perhaps from themselves, they being originally of the [[Scythian]] race."
According to the [[Middle Irish language]] synthetic history [[Lebor Gabála Érenn]] she was the daughter of [[Pharaoh Necho II]] of Egypt. - see entry on Scota.
Other sources say that Scota was the daughter of [[Pharaoh Neferhotep I]] of Egypt and his wife Senebsen, and was the wife of Míl, that is Milesius, and the mother of [[Donn|Éber Donn]] and [[Érimón]]. Míl had given Neferhotep military aid against ancient Ethiopia and was given Scota in marriage as a reward for his services. Writing in 1571, [[Edmund Campion]] named the pharaoh [[Amenophis]]; Keating named him [[Cincris]] or [[Forann]].
== See also ==
{{wiktionary}}
*[[Gaidhealtachd]]
*[[Scoti]]
*[[Big Scotia]]
*[[Scotia Sea]]
*[[Scotia Plate]]
*[[Scotia Tower]]
*[[Nova Scotia]]
*[[Scotiabank]]
*[[Scotia Gas Networks]]
==External links==
* [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/genhist/hist1.html A history of Romans in Scotland]
[[Category:Ancient Ireland]]
[[Category:History of Scotland]]
[[Category:History of Ireland]]
[[Category:Post-Roman Scotland]]
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{{Ireland-stub}}
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